Create Your Future
We’re providing future professionals with the tools of the trade.
The Cut Above Academy has been an integral part of New Zealand’s fashion history for over thirty years and it continues to play an important role in producing future hairdressers and make-up artists.
We strive to maintain our position as a pre-eminent and respected provider of training and education for the hairdressing and beauty industries by our continuing commitment to excellence and progressive education. Our aim is to produce graduates for the work force who are qualified to national standards, who understand the aims and ethics of industry and who are motivated towards on-going pursuit of excellence in their vocation.
Why Choose a Career In Image Making?
Few other careers offer equal opportunities for:
• creative expression
• employment in the hairdressing or beauty industry
• make-up artistry for film, fashion or media production
• special effects make-up for stage or screen
• free-lance employment as a nail technician or make-up artist
• travel as a hairdresser or beautician on a cruise ship
• business ownership with small capital outlay
Why Choose the Cut Above Academy?
International Standard of Training
The qualifications offered by the Cut Above Academy are first-class credentials in contemporary image making. We offer a unique range of fulltime courses in hairdressing, beauty therapy, nail art and make-up artistry for fashion, film, and FX production. Each course is designed to exacting industry standards and approved by the NZQA as a quality assured qualification.In today’s beauty and creative workforces you need to be multi-skilled. Salon and beauty clinic owners want operators with extra skills in make-up or nail artistry. Production companies want make-up and FX artists who can style hair, create prosthetics and assist in wardrobe, props and fashion styling. Our wide-ranging syllabus allows you to add these skills to your CV – or progress to training in another field at the end of your chosen course. As the driving force in image-making training we produce more skilled graduates for these workforces than any other school. Cut Above is the only NZ academy where you can gain an equivalent range of nationally recognised credits in all of these fields.
International Teaching Resources
Our reputation attracts the highest calibre of teachers and our facilities are unparalleled. Each faculty is designed to meet specific industry needs. The lecture rooms, salons, beauty and nail clinics, make-up studios and FX workshops are air-conditioned and feature the latest in cutting edge technology. Student facilities are unsurpassed, and a full-time welfare officer is available to assist with personal issues and graduate job placement.
Nationally Recognised Qualifications
All Cut Above programmes are designed to industry standards and accredited by the NZQA.We teach and assess you for national qualifications in hairdressing, beauty therapy – or industry approved qualifications in make-up artistry and special effects, which are all based on the national qualifications framework.You will learn in creative environments from inspiring teachers who are leaders in their field. As a Cut Above student you will take part in some of the most exciting fashion and arts events in New Zealand and gain workplace insight and contacts. The special effects workshop is a masterpiece of industrial FX technology. Here in the ‘Creature Shop’, as it is named, students master the art of special effects make-up and sculpting in a custom-built workshop that conforms to industry and OSH standards.
Career Opportunities
The future continues to look promising for our trainees. Our hairdressing graduates are out there building great careers, winning awards, featuring in high profile magazines and highly sought after by salon owners. Our make-up and SFX graduates contribute significantly to the growing numbers of successful artists working in the fashion and media fields. Our beauty therapists are in strong demand, nail art is experiencing a major boom.
